


Daylight

by NattiKay



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Gen, Illustrated, Post-Canon, Post-Wizards, Troll Jim Lake Jr., a fair serving of jlaire but it's not really the main focus, jim turns back, jim/douxie friendship, u can pry halftroll jim from my cold dead hands :')
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:08:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26827876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NattiKay/pseuds/NattiKay
Summary: Upon serious reflection, Jim realizes that after all he's been through, he doesn't really feel right as a human anymore.ILLUSTRATED
Relationships: Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan & Jim Lake Jr., Jim Lake Jr./Claire Nuñez
Comments: 9
Kudos: 184





	Daylight

**Author's Note:**

> it's basically a more detailed fic version of this little comic I did a while ago:  
> https://nattikay.tumblr.com/post/629180973450395648/ok-but-what-if
> 
> [EDIT 10/18/2020] Now comes with illustrations!

Jim sat alone at the kitchen table, a shaft of sunlight streaming through the open window and illuminating the otherwise darkened room as it shone upon the pair of hands he was studying.

The fleshy, pink, five-fingered hands currently attached to his own arms.

It was strange to be human again, both physically and emotionally. Things he had become accustomed to easily accessing were suddenly out of reach with his shorter stature. Hits that he’d barely had to think about before suddenly hurt terribly both to give and receive—how had he fought like this for so long? This could be a huge issue, he thought, with the remains of the Arcane Order still at large. How would he fight them in this small, skinny body, especially without his familiar armor and weapons?

Of _course_ he intended to help fight them, when the situation arose. Jim was a protector. It was his calling, his duty, the thing he was _meant_ to do. He’d accepted and embraced that long ago. Even with the amulet now gone, he would not be able to forgive himself if he did not at least try to help his friends in any small way he could with such a dangerous threat.

But what use would he be like this?

He supposed he could ask Douxie to put together a new set of armor and a new weapon. He didn’t know how much experience Douxie had with any form of blacksmithing, but surely as the only living master-wizard Jim knew he’d be able to magic up something or other, and _something_ was better than _nothing_.

Jim shook his head, storing the thought in the back of his mind for later. His hands fell from his gaze and settled onto the table as his mind wandered. His stomach rumbled and he inadvertently licked his lips—man, a fork sounded _really_ good right now. But he’d have to stifle that craving. Not only did silverware now taste dull and uninteresting again, but his teeth no longer had the strength to chew through it anyways, nor his gut the ability to safely digest it. Even if he did managed to strangle off a manageable piece, he’d probably just choke. No good.

He’d gone through similar cravings when he’d first turned half-troll, but it wasn’t quite the same. Sure, he’d start yearning for pleasant flavors that had then turned sour on his tongue—but at least he _technically_ could eat them, if he’d wanted to. They just…didn’t taste great.

And, really, the difference in palate hadn’t been as severe as he’d initially feared when trying to share dinner with his mom that first night. Yes, there were some human foods that were no longer enjoyable, if not outright repulsive—well-cooked meat being a major one. He found later, however, that he did still enjoy a variety of meat dishes, so long as they were served on the rarer side and with minimal seasoning (at least, of the kinds of seasonings humans enjoyed). To his delight, there were even some foods that gave him almost the exact same experience as a half-troll that they did as a human, such as tacos, which seemed to be near-universally enjoyed by every troll that tried them.

Sweets tasted quite similar, too, so he never had to give up the occasional Nougat Nummy (much to Toby’s relief, as he adamantly claimed that not being able to enjoy a Nougat Nummy was a sure sign of yet another apocalypse looming just around the corner).

And besides, once he’d gotten over the initial weirdness of the _concept_ of eating things inedible to humans, Jim had come to appreciate trollish foods in their own right—they weren’t just a replacement for the foods he no longer liked, nor something he had to choke down to meet trollish nutritional needs—they were genuinely good! He remembered being surprised the day it had dawned on him that he now found a bowl of oily bolts as genuinely likable as popcorn, and while he still liked tacos and Nougat Nummies, he suddenly found himself eating both without removing the wrappings, because they just added a strangely perfect burst of flavor.

Not anymore, though. While the taste of certain human foods might have made him vaguely queasy as half-troll, many trollish foods would be downright dangerous to try as a human—if not impossible with limited jaw strength, anyways.

“You alright, mate? You look a bit peaked.”

Jim whirled around at Douxie’s voice as the wizard approached the table. He hadn’t smelled him come in—no, _heard,_ he corrected himself _._ He hadn’t _heard_ him come in. Of course he wouldn’t have smelled him; human noses didn’t work like that. _His_ nose didn’t work like that.

“Ah, sorry, did I startle you?” Douxie apologized. “I was just passing by and saw you all alone in the window; thought I’d stop in…”

“No, no, it’s ok,” Jim assured, shaking off the apology with a nonchalant wave of his hand. His fleshy, pink, five-fingered hand. “I’ve just…got a lot on my mind, I guess. Just trying to sort some stuff out.”

Douxie nodded. “It’s been a wild year, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

Douxie regarded him with mild concern.

“Anything I can do to help?”

Jim shrugged.

“Oh, not really. I was just…” he paused, contemplating how much to say. He didn’t want to bother anyone with his strange dilemma, and he wasn’t quite sure how to put his conflict into words anyhow. Then again…Douxie _was_ over 900 years old and had plenty of experience with magic and what it can do. Perhaps…perhaps he could give some kind of advice.

“It’s just…weird to be human again.”

Douxie’s brows shot up in mild surprise, then furrowed.

“Did you…not _want_ to be human again?”

“It’s…I…I’m not sure,” Jim admitted. “I guess I didn’t _not_ not want to…but I mean…it’s not really something I was, like, _aiming_ for, either. I mean, I guess it was hard being half-troll at first, so maybe back then…but then, I got used to it and just kind of…accepted it. I didn’t really think I had any other choice. I thought it was permanent, Merlin _said_ it was permanent. So I just accepted it and learned to roll with it. I was ready to spend the rest of my life like that and honestly, in the end I was fine with that. But…”

Jim squirmed slightly, searching for the right words.

“…when I first became half-troll…yeah, it was hard. But I knew beforehand what I was getting myself into…well, sorta. I guess I didn’t really have time to consider every side-effect or anything…the circumstances were…pressing…and Merlin was…well, Merlin,” he glanced up apologetically at Douxie, not wanting to come across as disrespectful towards his friend’s late father-figure.

“…but I knew that I was about to change myself, and that there would be no going back, and I still made the conscious decision because I thought it was necessary. Changing back, though…becoming human again…it just sort of _happened_ , out of the blue. I wasn’t expecting it, I wasn’t prepared for it…just one moment I was turning to stone, and the next thing I knew there I was on the ground, small and frail and just so…tired,”

He broke off, shaking his head as he pursed his lips in mild frustration.

“I guess I’m not necessarily _against_ being human again…there are some benefits, probably…convenience, and stuff…but…still. Despite the…crazy situation surrounding it…I _chose_ to go half-troll, ultimately.But…I _didn’t_ choose…”

“…to go back,” Douxie finished.

“Well…yeah,” said Jim. “It’s just…it was sudden, and the re-adjustment has been harder than I would’ve thought.”

“You have been through a lot in the past few months,” Douxie acknowledged sympathetically. “Gunmar, Morgana, Camelot, the Order…the shard…like, three radical physical transformations…that’s more than enough to overwhelm just about anyone, innit? But hey…” He smiled encouragingly, “Look on the bright side, literally. At least you can go out in the sun again, yeah?”

The corners of Jim’s mouth twitched upwards in a small smile. He glanced back down at his hands and forearms sitting in the beam of sunlight across the table. His fleshy, pink, five-fingered hands—decidedly _not_ made of stone nor convulsing in excruciating pain in the light.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “That was probably the one thing I missed most as a half-troll.”

“There you go!” said Douxie. “At least you can enjoy that.”

“Yeah…”

The conversation lulled off. Hesitantly, Jim spoke up once more.

“There were…different benefits, though. To being half-troll.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah…I was stronger, for one. That sounds silly, I know, but it wasn’t just about having bigger muscles. My skin—I—was a lot more durable. I couldn’t be hurt as easily. Coming back to a human body after months like that—you really start to understand why trolls consider humans so fragile. We _are_. Sometimes I have to practically walk on eggshells to stop myself from accidentally hurting, well, myself, just by doing what felt pretty much normal while I was half-troll. I can’t take the same physical strains I’d gotten so used to anymore and I have to keep reminding myself of that.

“The sensory differences too…trolls see and hear about the same as humans, but their sense of smell is _way_ stronger. It was overwhelming at first, but then it just became part of how I perceived the world. It’s so _weird_ now to see someone and not be able to pick up their scent without getting creepily close, and even then it’s so much duller. It’s so weird now not to be able to…how did Blinky put it? ‘Perceive olfactory cues’. Loosing that, it’s like suddenly being blind, but…for your nose. Nose…blind. I guess.

“And the food! I never thought I’d say this when I first transformed, but I’ve been craving silverware like you can’t believe…I know that sounds really weird but…well…I don’t know! It was just _good_ , as a troll.”

Douxie studied Jim intently as the former Trollhunter rambled on about his experience as a half-troll and how it differed from being human. He certainly sounded surprisingly passionate. Douxie himself had never been anything but human, so much of Jim’s ramblings were beyond his own understanding, but he did his best to imagine (and also made a mental note to ask Archie, later, how different it felt to transform between cat and dragon).

When Jim’s verbal stream of thoughts began to ebb, Douxie spoke up once more.

“So…do you _miss_ being half-troll?”

Jim paused, brows furrowed, deep in thought.

“I guess…in some ways…I do,” he said eventually. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s like you said, there are some advantages to being human…but…” he shrugged. “There were advantages to being half-troll too, and…yeah. I guess I kinda miss it.”

The pair were quiet for a long while. Douxie was just about to bid farewell and leave his friend to his thoughts when Jim’s hesitant voice broke the silence.

“Douxie,” he asked quietly, the smallest quiver just barely noticeable in his voice. “How familiar are you with brewing potions?”

Douxie blinked in surprise. He had a hunch as to where this was going.

“W…well, I wouldn’t exactly call myself a brewmaster, but it is a mandatory part of wizard training. I’ve made my share of successful potions.”

Jim nodded, biting his lip as his mind raced. Earlier he had contemplated asking Douxie to make him new armor. Now he had something else to request.

“Do you think you could…make a potion for me?”

He didn’t specify what kind. He didn’t need to. They both knew exactly what kind of potion he was referring to, and Jim could tell that Douxie understood what he was asking.

“Are you sure?” the wizard asked softly.

Jim took a deep breath.

“I just…want to have the option.”

* * *

Claire snuggled up to Jim on the couch. They were alone in Claire’s living room; the sky had long since darkened beyond the closed blinds as the final credits of _Gun Robot III_ blinked out on the TV.

They’d had lots of these little get-togethers since the battle with the Arcane Order. While enemies still lingered somewhere in the world, their location was unknown, and as such there was little to be done beyond keeping eyes and ears open. That left plenty of downtime to enjoy with friends and family.

Jim had scarcely paid attention to the movie. Thoughts of the conversation he’d had with Douxie the previous day still rolled around in his head, over and over and over. Douxie had agreed to make the potion, but said that he’d need a few days to prepare it—some of those ingredients were difficult to come by, after all, and he’d need to consult his old spellbooks to make sure he was doing everything right.

Was this the right path to take?

“Claire?” Jim asked, voice slightly crackling from two hour’s disuse. He cleared his throat.

“Hmm?” the girl responded, hardly moving from her spot cuddled up on her boyfriend’s chest.

“Are you glad that I’m human?”

This got Claire to move. She opened her eyes and lifted her head to meet Jim’s, surprised and confusion in her expression.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it was technically your magic that…that turned me back, right?” Jim reasoned. “Do you…do you prefer me this way?”

Claire blinked a few times, as though she couldn’t believe he’d suggested such a thing.

“I love you no matter what form you’re in, Jim. You know that,” she said earnestly. “Whether you’re human, or half-troll, or…whatever that shard made of you. You’re still _you_ and I love you.”

“Why change me back, then?”

Claire’s eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t set out to turn you human again on purpose. I didn’t even know that was _possible_. I was just devastated when I thought you were…you were _dead_.” Her voice shook slightly at the reminder. “I just wanted you _alive_. I don’t know how or why you came back as a human, but…I’m just glad you _are_ back.”

“Hmm,” Jim nodded slowly, processing this information.

“Not that it should matter now, anyways,” Claire added. “Whatever happened, however it happened, I’m just glad you’re alive, in any form.”

“….yyyyyeah,” Jim agreed, unconvincingly. Claire studied his face.

“Jim,” she said quietly. “Did you…not _want_ to be human again?”

“I—” Jim began, squirming slightly and avoiding her studious gaze. He sighed. “I…was talking to Douxie the other day. He asked me the same thing. And I…I don’t know.”

A pause. Sensing there was more to the situation, Claire waited patiently for him to continue, urging him on with her eyes. Jim sighed again.

“There are benefits to being human. But…there were benefits to being half-troll, too. And on some level, I…sort of miss it? It’s been harder than I’d have thought to re-adjust…”

And with that, the dam broke. Jim poured out all his thoughts to Claire, telling her everything he’d told Douxie: feeling fragile and weak and useless, missing the foods he’d grown to enjoy which could now probably kill him, going (what felt like) nose-blind. The fact that this had all happened so suddenly, and after everything else that he’d gone through, and that he’d had no say in it, really. The fears and confusion and…

“So I, um…” he hesitated. “I asked Douxie if…if he could make the potion for me.”

Claire’s eyes widened.

“You want to go back? Again?”

Jim shrugged, grimacing slightly.

“I’m…not entirely sure. But…I’m thinking about it. I…guess I just want to have the option. But…”

“But?” Claire prompted.

“But…would you be disappointed if I changed back, again? Would you prefer that I stayed human?”

“Jim…”

“I know, I know, ‘you love me in any form’, all that,” Jim acknowledged. “But…well, it can’t be the easiest thing, dating a half-troll—”

“I did it before—”

“I know you did it before…but in a way, you had no choice. For all we knew, it was permanent. It was date me as a half-troll or break up with me entirely. Which I’m glad you didn’t, don’t get me wrong. But now…now I could become half-troll again, or I could stay human. You can still date me, and if you want it can be as a human. Surely that would be more convenient for you. We don’t know how long I’d have lived as a half-troll, what if it was for centuries like a…regular troll? I probably wouldn’t be able to get a regular job outside of Arcadia. We don’t know if we could’ve ever…if I could’ve ever…y’know…” he felt his face warm as his cheeks tinged pink, “If we could’ve ever…had a family. We couldn’t even go out and spend a day in the sun together…”

Jim sighed once more. “You deserve the best, Claire. And maybe the best way to give you that is to stay human. Make things a little more…normal.”

To his surprised, Claire burst out laughing.

“Normal?” she echoed. “What makes you think I need things to be _normal_? I’ve traveled through time, been possessed by an evil sorceress—who I later defeated, mind you—opened portals, battled trolls, gone up against an ancient magic order, have a changeling for a brother, trolls and aliens and dragons and wizards for friends…oh yeah, and I’m a wizard myself, now,” she smirked. When Jim still looked unconvinced, she leaned up to kiss him sweetly on the cheek, continuing more softly.

“Listen, Jim. I just want you to be happy. If that means staying human, I’ll support you in that. If that means going back to being half-troll, I’ll support you in that too. Just because things aren’t _normal_ doesn’t mean they can’t be _good_. Just let me stay by your side, and we’ll figure things out as they come.”

Jim finally relaxed, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend as he did, a smile gracing his tired features.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” he breathed.

“I sure do,” Claire teased, grinning widely as she leaned comfortably into the hug.

* * *

Jim stood in the bathroom, cloaked in an enormous hoodie that nearly reached his knees and billowing sweatpants pulled tight at the drawstring so as not to fall down—the comfortable clothes they’d bought for his half-troll form once he got the Eclipse armor off on the way to New Jersey. Without magical armor that automatically adjusted to its wearer’s size, they figured they ought to play it safe. Claire and Douxie stood to either side of him, and he held in his hands a jar filled with a glowing green liquid slowly turning black.

“Are you really sure about this?” Claire checked. “It could be difficult to change you back again if you change your mind. I told you, I have no idea how I did it the first time; I don’t know if I could do it again.”

“And it’s probably not good for you to keep switching over and over anyways. This kind of heavy magical interference isn’t like being a changeling. It’d take a toll,” Douxie added.

Jim took a breath and squared his shoulders.

“I’m sure,” he confirmed, a determined look in his eyes. “It sounds weird, but…I think this is how I was meant to be, just like I was meant to be a Trollhunter.”

“Even without the Amulet?” asked Douxie.

“…yes. Even then. I’m a protector, Amulet or not, and…I think this is how I can best do it. This is what _I_ want.”

Douxie nodded, glancing out the window. The sun was setting—if they were going through with this, now was the time.

“Alright then. I can’t stick around right now, I’m afraid—Archie and Zoe have been pestering me for hours; I have to check up on ‘em. But I’ll come back first thing tomorrow to make sure everything went alright. Claire will shadow-jump to wherever you end up, and help you back.”

Jim nodded resolutely. “Thanks, Douxie.”

He stepped over to the freshly-filled bathtub and poured the now-black potion into the water, watching as it rapidly spread to fill the whole tub. He looked back at his friend and girlfriend.

“Well,” he said with a half-smile, “See you on the other side, I guess.”

Claire stepped up to him and took his hand reassuringly, keeping hold of it as he stepped into the water and sat down, ready to fully submerge. She let go to lovingly caress his face with both hands, pressing her forehead to his.

“I’ll find you,” she promised in a murmur.

“I know you will,” Jim replied warmly. “You always do.”

They shared a brief kiss, and Claire stepped back.

Jim gave one more assenting nod, and he went under.

* * *

Jim groggily pulled himself out of the Arcadia river. He felt weak and shaky. What had happened?

He glanced down at the hands poking out of the waterlogged sleeves beneath him. The blue, stony, five-fingered hands. It all came back in a rush—the potion!

_…wait…five fingers?_

Jim blinked blearily, convinced his droopy eyes were playing tricks on him. Five fingers? Hadn’t he had four before, in this form? On his right hand, anyways. Didn’t he?

There was a whooshing sound behind him, and Jim caught a familiar scent just before the voice exclaimed:

“Jim!”

“Claire?”

The young sorceress-in-training collided with her boyfriend as the shadow portal closed, wrapping her arms tight around him for only a second before leaping back again with a laugh.

“Ack! Of course, you’re soaked…here,” Her hands glowed with a purple magic that enveloped him for a moment, then vanished as quickly as it had come. Instantly Jim felt dry, his baggy clothes as soft and warm as if they’d just come out of the drier and his hair no longer clinging to his skin.

He noticed, vaguely, that while the clothes fit much better now than they had in the bathroom, they still felt looser than he remembered them being on the road.

“C…Claire,” he said again, wobbling as he tried to get up on unsteady legs. “The potion…it worked?”

“Looks like it,” said Claire, rushing forward to steady him. “You know, I said I love you no matter what form you’re in—and I absolutely do!—but I’ve gotta admit,” she winked at him playfully, “I kind of missed the horns.”

Jim let out a small laugh, reaching up to examine the top of his head. Sure enough, his hand brushed the familiar keratinous growths now re-attached to his skull.

He tried again to step forward, leaning on Claire for support. Her head cleared his shoulder, albeit just barely. Hadn’t it been closer to, like, his armpit, before? Well, whatever.

“Don’t rush yourself,” said Claire. “You’re exhausted. Wait till you’re ready and I’ll portal us back to your house.”

“It’s…ok,” breathed Jim, shaking his woozy head to clear it. “I can make it…through a portal. I’d much rather, uh, recover in a comfortable house than a forest floor anyways.”

* * *

Claire stayed with Jim that night, holding him close on the living room couch (his childhood room had long since been taken over by the former changeling familiars his mother was caring for), the blinds drawn tight so the sunlight wouldn’t hit him in the morning. They’d met Barbara on the way in, who ran up to hug her son, but didn’t stay too long as Jim was fast asleep almost immediately upon hitting the couch pillow, and upstairs one of the familiars began to whine.

They’d let her know before, of course, what they planned to do. Barbara hadn’t been _thrilled_ , per se, but Jim assured her that this was his choice, it was what he wanted—and she relented.

It was around nine the following morning when a knock came at the door. Jim had successfully slept off the exhausted disorientation caused by the transformation and was now up and about, contentedly munching on a breakfast spoon as he stretched out his limbs, re-acquainting himself with this body. Claire answered the door.

“Hi, Douxie!”

“Morning!” said the wizard, glancing back into the house. Spotting Jim, he grinned. “Ah! I see the potion was successful, then?”

“Yeah, thanks!” Jim called back, swallowing the last of his spoon as he rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms. “I can’t tell you how weirdly good it feels to be back in this form.”

“Glad to hear it,” said Douxie, stepping inside and closing the door at Claire’s inviting gesture. He walked over to the living room and began to open the blinds to the window, letting sunlight stream into the room. “Just one more thing I should’ve mentioned, though.”

He grabbed Jim’s wrist and began to pull him towards the window. Jim jerked back immediately, his renewed trollish strength allowing him to easily break Douxie’s grasp as he reclaimed his hand.

“Whoa whoa whoa, _hey_ man!” he exclaimed. “Are you _trying_ to get me burned?!”

To his surprise, Douxie did not look the least bit apologetic. Rather, he grinned confidently.

“Just trust me, mate.”

Jim hesitated. He knew Douxie was honest and trustworthy, but even so…he had his share of experience with the excruciating pain of exposing trollish skin to sunlight, and he was not keen on re-experiencing it.

Reluctantly, he reached forth a trembling hand. He watched as his finger, a stony blue finger, was enveloped in the beam of light…then his hand…then his whole forearm…and it dawned on him.

_It didn’t hurt._

“IT DOESN’T HURT!” he exclaimed, face breaking into a wide grin as he jumped in and out of the sunlight. “THE SUN DOESN’T HURT!”

Claire, too, grinned at she realized what was happening, her gleeful expression matching Jim’s as she rushed forward to embrace him. “Oh Jim, that’s wonderful! Douxie! That’s amazing!”

Douxie smiled back.

“I made some adjustments to the potion,” he admitted. “Nothing major, just a few little tweaks, and well…your skin may not be _quite_ as durable as it was the first time around, but I figured sunlight immunity was a fair trade-off.”

“Douxie, that’s amazing!” said Jim, echoing Claire’s exclamations. “Thank you so much…I don’t even know what to say…”

“Happy to help,” said Douxie. “Just let me know if you ever need other magical services.”

“Of course! And let me know if you ever need, uh, half-troll backup or something. Or if you have spare silverware you need to dispose of.”

Douxie laughed. “Right.”

“Oh! I’ve got an idea,” Claire said suddenly. “Why don’t we call Toby and Krel and everyone and put together a picnic this afternoon? Out in the sun. Y’know, to celebrate. It’s supposed to be really nice out today; we could get tacos or something.”

“Sounds great!” said Jim, an arm around his girlfriend as they leaned on each other.

“Count me in,” said Douxie.

All seemed as it should be.

**Author's Note:**

> So basically what Douxie did was tweak the potion so that Jim's final form is proportionally just slightly more human than it was the first time; not enough to *drastically* change his appearance but enough to grant him sunlight immunity. But while Jim looks pretty much the same as he did before in terms of general build and features, this also had the side-effects of making him a few inches shorter than the first time (though still significantly taller than his human form), making his skin slightly less stony (though still quite durable), and allowing him to keep all five fingers on both hands.


End file.
